Online House Plans for Sale
joenorm
| Posted in General Questions on
I am looking for places to peruse and potentially purchase houseplans online.
I have come across a few architects with websites where they sell plans, but there are not as many as I would expect.
Looking for a simple, 1000 sqft plan with semi-modern styling.
If anyone has other sites they like please share.
Thanks
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Joe,
Do a Google Image search for "House Plans". It will yield dozens of sources. Be careful though. I regularly get referred by our local building inspector to clients who have purchased sets of drawings that don't meet code and can't be made to meet code. The websites usually have some declaimer that they have "been approved in the jurisdiction in which they were drawn".
A better idea is to find a design you like online and get a local draftsman to draw them up. That way you can incorporate the assemblies and features you want.
Of course as a designer my preference is that clients engage someone like me who can tailer the design to the demands of the site, local climate and your needs.
Thanks for the reply, Malcom.
I wholeheartedly agree with you about engaging a local designer. In fact I just finished with a project for myself where I did just that, and it was great.
But as a builder and wannabe designer looking to build a something simple on a major budget, some sort of off the shelf seems like the way to go.
Forever home, yes hire the architect/designer to get the details right.
Rental or investment property, cheaper off the shelf plans seem adequate here.
I have looked at houseplans.com and sites like that but what I like is finding professional architects that also sell plans. There are a few out there and I was looking for more.
thanks
I would make an appointment with the local building inspector and ask him if this is feasible. Localities vary tremendously in how restrictive they are. I live in Washington, DC, where it would not be unheard of to spend $200,000 on consultants to get a house permitted and a site prepared. Bigger cities are even more expensive. At the other end of the extreme, there are places in the US where no code enforcement is done.
$200,000 to get a house permitted? Jesus. That is ridiculous. I would hope that gets you an invitation to the President's inaugural ball as well, lol.
It's life in the big city. That might be on the high side but $100K would be very low. If you run into zoning issues and have to hire a zoning attorney $200k isn't enough. Or if your neighbors decide to fight you. A partial list of the experts needed for a new house:
An architect
A surveyor
A civil engineer
A soils engineer
A structural engineer
A mechanical engineer
An certified arborist to produce a tree preservation plan
A transportation consultant to produce a traffic and parking plan
An erosion control specialist to develop an erosion control plan during construction
A stormwater management specialist to develop a stormwater management plan
At least a dozen agencies have to approve the plans, including:
Water and Sewer Authority
Electric company
Department of Transportation -- traffic plan and tree preservation plan
Public Space Office -- if you are occupying public space during construction or have a driveway
Department of the Environment
Zoning
At the Building Department, the following offices:
* Electric
* Energy
* Fire – most new houses require sprinklers
* Green
* Mechanical
* Plumbing
* Structural
This is infill in a city. Land is expensive enough that every house is built to the lot limit lines and to the maximum allowable coverage ratio. So every house is designed to the site.
The point is, different localities have different requirements. Fifty miles away you can build whatever you want.
I understand the issues, but my position stands. Especially for residential, $200K for permitting is absolutely absurd. How has the country come to this level of nonsense?
permitting fees in my area add up to maybe $4,000. It depends on the value of the proposed building
Joe, I often get requests for design work from people who can't afford (or don't want to pay for) custom design. While I agree with Malcolm that custom design is best, many people simply don't want to pay for it, can't wait for it or are otherwise happy with designs that are ready to go. I respond with these links, with the caveat that it's not ethical for me to create designs based on these--I recommend working with the plan designers to make any changes.
https://rosschapin.com/plans/small-houses/
https://www.hollandandfoley.com/small-planet-homes/
https://www.vermontsimplehouse.com/vsh-plans/vsh4aproduct
https://knightarchitect.com/lucias-little-houses
https://thegohome.us/plans-options/plans/
https://www.brightbuilthome.com/
https://unityhomes.com/our-designs/
http://www.lamidesign.com/
Not a website, but you may find an idea you like: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/list/small-houses
Thank you. Many of these links I have not seen yet.
Michael, What you said really stood out to me.
"...with the caveat that it's not ethical for me to create designs based on these--I recommend working with the plan designers to make any changes."
After 3+ years of study and planning ahead of braking ground on our small house dream here in SW New Mexico, we've ended up with a handful of ideas and layouts based on houses we've read about. All of these have been considered based on the particulars of our small town lot. When we are finally ready to move ahead with design, hopefully through a design/build contract, is it ethical for us to base our plan on layouts and details of houses written about here on GBA and/or elsewhere? Would you recommend we reach out to the designers/builders of our idea houses and ask for their well-wishes?
Aaron, it's very common for clients to come in with a few (or many) "inspiration images." They can be floor plans, exteriors, interiors or other details. If they show me five different plans that all have some elements in common, but leave the actual design work up to me, I have no problem with that. If they give me a plan they found online and want me to draft it with few changes, I won't do that.
All design work has an implied copyright; as a creative professional I don't like it when others steal my work and I don't want to steal from others. However, generally speaking it doesn't take many changes to render the copyright null, and little or nothing in the design world is not somehow derivative of something else.
That's a long-winded way of saying, "it depends." If you are collecting ideas that you intend to combine and rearrange into something tailored for your situation, I'd say go ahead. If you plan to build a design that someone else created, with few or no changes, I would consider that an ethical issue, even if you are unlikely to be caught.
As for details, many of us share them here with the understanding that they will be used by others; the biggest issue there is liability--if you build a detail that I shared and it fails, am I responsible? (Mental note--add disclaimers when I share details!)
Canadian website :
https://drummondhouseplans.com/
I'm currently planning on pursuing a self-build via self-educating on all details covered by the entire process, starting from design to completion. At ANY point along the way that I am not sure (and I tend to be highly doubtful of most of my skills [I almost always end up with good results]) I WILL consult with professionals. I'll be my own general contractor consulting with professionals on my plans and steps BEFORE anything is committed. I don't think I can get insurance to cover my own mistakes.
Find a plan that looks right or that could be made right with little work and have a local architect (who is aware of local codes and such) work up the necessary prints. Planning is NO place to scrimp on; it's as important as getting the foundation right- if you don't get it right then having perfect walls and roofs is going to be for naught. I have a very tight budget myself, and I plan on paying for key services: in keeping with the advice of the importance of getting the foundation right I will be consulting with a geotech.
As AlexPi suggests, DO check out Drummond. I scoured the entire Internet for a plan that would best work for what I wanted and I found one from Drummond that is pretty darn close: there are, however, significant changes that I'll still need, in which case I'll opt to pay a local architect to make those changes, create the necessary plans.
Best advice I could give (feeling I've already achieved some sense of wisdom in all of this after being engaged in only a few months) it to give yourself lots of time to plan. My schedule is just under 3 years before starting construction and I feel that this is going to be tight! (lots to learn)
Passive Design Solutions has a bunch of ready to build Passive House designs:
https://www.passivedesign.ca/pages/plans
If going that route I would also look into a manufactured house.
I wish I could find a manufactured house of reasonable quality, styling, and price. It would be a no brainier. But most that I have come across fall short in at least one of those areas.
Joe,
Geography is the biggest challenge to finding a well-designed and built modular home. Where are you located?
I'm in Washington State
Hi Joe,
You might want to check out Method Homes. If you like that style but want to do your own build, I have a complete set of plans for the Wintergreen Cabin that was the progenitor for a number of their designs. See https://www.archdaily.com/157316/wintergreen-cabin-balance-associates-architects for a project profile.
I found Truoba Homes (https://www.truoba.com/) by looking for modern designs and liked the direction they were going enough to go the custom route with them.
I love the final design that we came up with and the price was right.
I've seen examples of plans from "superstar" architects like Steve Baczek and no, the plans I got from Truoba don't have even close to the number of details provided on his plans. Other "gold star" level plans I've seen have also had far more details. But you get what you pay for. I am having to figure out more on my own with the Truoba plans but I also paid a FRACTION of what I'd pay for infinitely detailed plans.
Worth mentioning that the architect I worked with is based in Estonia and so I needed to get a local structural plan to get the design approved by my local board.
Overall, I am very comfortable recommending Truboa (and Ignas in particular, if he's still around) to anybody wanting a truly custom plan on a reasonable budget.
In my experience it was more beneficial to work directly with a structural engineer who does plans on the side. My city requires stamped foundation plans. They already have to build a model for the plans and possibly truss design. Then if you deviate and use details like frost-protected slab, increased stud spacing, and other details you have the benefit of a stamped set. In my area it is extremely valuable because anything deviated from the norm tends to cause friction with the building inspectors. My engineer also provides the plot plan and open hole report.
The finer details will be your responsibility to research and decide, most engineers tend to be very logical. They make it pragmatic, you make it pretty, and it comes out with a good balance.
Good luck
If you are in Washington, Collective Carpentry is just over the boarder in Invermere BC. They are a prefab builder. http://www.collectivecarpentry.com For full modular plus design check out B public prefab https://bpublicprefab.com/fsb-houseplans. They use collective carpentry as their fabricator and have some standard house plans.
There is also BuidPrefab. You can pick a standard floor plan and price your home on their website. https://builtprefab.com/product/build-and-price-your-home#floorplan